Ohio marijuana legalization debate far from over

Updated January 4, 2016 at 9:24 AM;Posted December 23, 2015 at 7:00 AM

Medical Marijuana

The Ohio General Assembly plans to take up the issue of medical marijuana in 2016, as citizen-led efforts to legalize the plant and decrease criminal penalties for possession ramp up.
(Jim Mone/Associated Press)

More ballot issues are in the works, state lawmakers have vowed to act on medical marijuana, and activists across the state are working on local ballot measures that would allow people to possess marijuana without penalty.

Marijuana advocates with little funding failed for years to put a marijuana initiative on the ballot. But in 2015, dozens of deep-pocketed investors banded together under the name ResponsibleOhio to propose Issue 3, which would have legalized recreational and medical marijuana sales and use. In exchange for contributing $20 million to the campaign, the funders would have owned the only 10 sites where commercial marijuana could be grown.

Rep. Kirk Schuring, a Canton Republican, said the House will announce before March its plans for how to proceed on the issue, but he didn't expect legislation to pass before next November.

Schuring said he's open to hearing from experts in the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana but he wants to hear first from Ohio physicians about whether marijuana has medical benefits.

"Constituents feel there might be some merit to it," Schuring said. "Ohioans also want to be assured that if we do it, we do it right, and that's why we're being very deliberative."

Schuring said lawmakers should examine the issue through the lens of how medicine is defined by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has not recognized the marijuana plant as medicine but has approved pharmaceutical drugs containing chemical compounds derived from marijuana. Epidiolex, which contains cannabidiol and is used to treat seizures, is undergoing trials in hospitals in Ohio and other states.

Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Richmond Heights DemocratOhio Senate

Meanwhile, the Senate seems ready to act sooner. Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Richmond Heights Democrat, said legislation could be introduced as soon as the end of January. Yuko said his urgency comes from patients with cancer, intractable epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or other illnesses that could benefit from marijuana and can't wait for the FDA approval process.

"If we wait for Ohio to catch up to some of these other states or countries, we're talking years," Yuko said. "For someone suffering from stomach cancer or MS, they don't have years."

Yuko, who has MS, said he's never tried marijuana but understands why others would.

His GOP colleague, Sen. Dave Burke of Marysville, said senators are working through how an Ohio medical marijuana program would look, from who would grow the marijuana to how patients would obtain and consume it.

Burke, a pharmacist, said marijuana is an uncomfortable topic for him and other Republicans, but he was surprised when dyed-in-the-wool Republicans from his conservative district told him they supported medical marijuana.

"If this is really what Ohio wants, you'll get it," Burke said.

Ballot initiatives

ResponsibleOhio plans to return next year with a free-market plan incorporating suggestions from supporters and opponents.

Issue 3 drew opposition from an unlikely group -- pro-marijuana activists who didn't like the idea of 10 companies allowed to grow marijuana for sale. National organizations such as the Marijuana Policy Project and Drug Policy Alliance, which led legalization efforts in Colorado and other states, did not endorse Issue 3.

James said more details will be released in early 2016 but hinted the new amendment use the beer brewing industry as a model. James said all of Issue 3's investors are interested in supporting a new amendment, even if it doesn't grant them exclusive grow rights.

"They not only understand the industry far better than they did at the beginning, they understand they have access to capital and are able to be in the industry more quickly than others," James said.

James said the proposed amendment will ensure access for medical marijuana patients, protect employers' ability to enforce drug-free workplace policies, and regulate the industry. James said the amendment will not be structured to run afoul of Issue 2, an amendment approved in November which requires an additional ballot question for amendments seeking to write a monopoly or other economic interests into the Ohio Constitution.

Meanwhile, a separate group proposing full legalization has begun collecting the more than 305,000 signatures required to put its amendment on the November 2016 ballot. The political action committee Ohioans to End Prohibition ramped up its Legalize Ohio 2016 campaign after Election Day, reaching out to ResponsibleOhio supporters and investors.

OTEP President Sri Kavuru said the campaign has received funding after Issue 3's defeat and is continuing to collect signatures across the state.

Kavuru said his organization plans to work with lawmakers on marijuana policy but isn't confident the legislature will go as far as Ohioans want.

"We're planning on putting this on the ballot regardless," Kavuru said. "They're literally going to have to pass the perfect medical program in order for us to stop."

The Legalize Ohio 2016 amendment would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 100 grams of dried marijuana flowers plus marijuana-infused products. Marijuana would be taxed at $1 per gram of flowers, with revenues going toward local governments, public employee pension funds, new schools, cannabis research and other public services.

Decriminalization

Collecting the hundreds of thousands of signatures to qualify for Ohio's statewide ballot can be costly, so marijuana activists across the state are turning to local initiatives that require only a few thousand signatures to push reforms.

Ohio decriminalized marijuana in the 1970s, reducing possession of less than 100 grams to a minor misdemeanor. The offense carries no jail time, but offenders pay a fine and automatically have their driver's licenses suspended.

Local governments have "home rule" authority over minor misdemeanor drug offenses, and many have reduced penalties for those crimes, including eliminating the driver's license penalty. Felonies cannot be modified by local governments.

In September, Toledo voters approved a local ordinance eliminating all penalties for misdemeanor marijuana crimes, including possession of up to 200 grams of marijuana or more than 250 joints. The "Sensible Marihuana Ordinance" measure passed with 70 percent of the vote.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is challenging a new Toledo ordinance that eliminates all penalties for minor marijuana crimes. Efforts are underway to pass similar laws in other Ohio cities.Tony Dejak/Associated Press

Efforts to replicate the Toledo law are underway in several Ohio cities including Cleveland, Columbus, and Akron. Supporters are getting help from marijuana advocacy group Ohio NORML and the Legalize Ohio 2016 campaign.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued the city of Toledo over the measure, arguing the Toledo ordinance makes felony marijuana possession and trafficking negligible municipal offenses, even if they occur at schools. DeWine said the city law invites drug trafficking.

That case is being heard in the Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

On the state level, lawmakers are reviewing a bill to remove the automatic license suspension for drug crimes and will also review a separate ResponsibleOhio proposal to allow past marijuana offenses to be erased from the record.

The "Fresh Start Act" would allow criminal records to be expunged, or destroyed, if the crimes become legal through law or a constitutional amendment. If lawmakers revise or reject the "Fresh Start Act," ResponsibleOhio can collect 91,677 signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.